


corners in Kirkwall

by fanfoolishness (LoonyLupin), LoonyLupin



Series: Chapter and Verse (Varric Tethras x Min Hawke) [5]
Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Dragon Age II - Act 1, Gen, Hope, Kirkwall (Dragon Age)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-29 18:11:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16749112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoonyLupin/pseuds/fanfoolishness, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoonyLupin/pseuds/LoonyLupin
Summary: Bethany finds herself feeling hopeful about what is to come.





	corners in Kirkwall

Merrill said once that Kirkwall had too many corners.

Bethany liked that.  Something about it settled deep into her bones and chest, stayed with her as she navigated the stone of the city.  She’d done her reading.  Kirkwall’s blood was written into its walls, the weight of its cruel history an endless crush, and the corners at least kept you from seeing it all at once.  A good thing, if you didn’t want to go mad.

Despite the weight of that history, there were parts of Kirkwall that were, improbably, all right.  Bethany could see the way Mum brightened in Hightown streets, remembering her old haunts.  She saw Min flourish smiles in Lowtown pubs and dark alleys in the docks; felt the weight of her own share in her coinpurse.  The coin was a comfort, a promise.  Maybe they wouldn’t be trapped in Lowtown forever.

There were their friends, too, or what passed as friends in these jet walls.  They fascinated Min and Bethany both.  Fenris, coruscating in the dark.  Merrill bright and sunny over magicks that made Bethany’s stomach clench.  Anders selfless and tormented and so sure in his right to freedom.  Could she ever be so bold herself?  

They traveled with the others frequently.  Min was fond of Isabela with her coy smile and her gold. Bethany loved Aveline, stalwart as ever, terrible at jokes.  They both adored Varric, clever, funny, always a little too impressed with himself.  Or was it part of an act?  Either way, he made Bethany smile.  She thought Carver would have liked him.

Sometimes the weight of missing her twin sneaked up on her.  It could find her in the Hightown bazaar, catching a glimpse of a well-oiled broadsword for sale.  She felt it in Mum’s gaze, so often tear-filled.  Sometimes it was in the way Molossus looked around, sniffing the stone corners of the streets and then glancing up at her, as if to ask where Carver had gone.  She never had an answer for him.  

She talked with Min about Carver, at times when the city fell quiet and their friends were ahead or behind.   _Do you think he’d like Lowtown? Oh yes, he’d love the Hanged Man.  He’d be right in the thick of things here, wouldn’t he?  Of course he would._ But neither of them was brave enough to give voice to how much they really missed him; they were careful to keep their crying private, even if Gamlen’s hovel was too small to hide the sound.

Some days the corners of Kirkwall felt stifling, embracing the summer’s heat like a lover.  Some days they felt like a brace against the winter chill.  Bethany grew used to the feelings of smooth jet and rough sandstone against her palm.  They began to feel as familiar as topsoil against the soles of her feet, the prick of rose thorns at her fingertips.  

She watched the sunrise one morning with her sister.  Her staff hung heavy at her back, a remembrance of the evening’s work.  They stood in the streets of Hightown, making two small figures amidst the dawn’s blushing light.  The corners glowed with it.

“We’ve enough coin for the expedition, now,” said Min.  She seemed dazed by the idea, but eager, too.

“If this goes well, we’ll be able to petition for our estate,” said Bethany, fighting against the sudden swell of hope in her chest. 

“Of course it’s going to go well,” said Min, and she pulled Bethany into an embrace.  “It’s all looking up from here on out.”

Bethany hugged her sister.   The walls of Kirkwall shone in rose and gold.  Her city waited for her, corners and all, and she shivered gratefully in the morning air.


End file.
